25
by Scarlet Phlame
Summary: A collection of exactly twenty-five of my drabbles. In one day, in one story, in 2,500 words. Mainly centered around Regina and the destruction of Storybrooke. (I own nothing.)
1. Chapter 1

Title: **7 Days**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Just seven more days until the end of the week. When the minutes would peel away into hours, the hours into days, days into months, months into years.

Time was such a solid thing. Such a stable object. It could hardly be altered, and yet it could be measured.

Maybe this was a good place to start about love, Emma thought.

Near a black hole, time slows. But in a black hole, time stops altogether. It didn't matter if it was ever going to be proved or not. She knew this was the perfect place for love to grow.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: **28**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

28. It was an interesting number. It was the day Henry had come back into her life, showed her the way home to her family and friends. She just hadn't remembered them.

When she thought about it, it brought a smile to her face. Things shifted, changed. The world around her was always changing and she'd only ever noticed now. How can you notice something when you aren't looking?

Everyone had been so close to her and yet so far away. For twenty-eight years of her life, she'd assumed her parents didn't want her.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: **Can't Wake Up**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Regina couldn't sleep. It was dark and it was night but she still couldn't sleep.

So she stood awake at the window.

For some time, she'd been waiting for the Blue Fairy to come and help her.

Not get rid of her mother, but get rid of her mother's magic.

It was what was ruining everything.

Regina just wanted everything to come back to normal. She just wanted her mother to love her again, more than her magic and more than herself. She wanted her mother back.

But the funny thing was, it was like day and Cora wouldn't wake.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: **Coffee**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: General  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Who didn't love coffee? It was great for a morning jog, at the office, a breakfast cup or an afternoon cup. The point was, it was coffee.

Henry sat at the counter, staring into his cup. The dreams about the red room had been getting worse lately. But as he sat there, he wondered.

His mom had always made her coffee with a single peppermint leaf floating in the middle. And as much as he wanted to try it, he sat there.

He wasn't sure he was ready for it.

Ready for what? Coffee? Hah. Yeah, very likely.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: **Count To Ten**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Lacey was Belle now, but for what? What mattered anymore?

Gold didn't want to wake her up to die. He didn't want to push the truth upon her like a tidal wave of emotions that would cause wreckage upon everything in its path.

And yet, he had.

He'd woken her up, only to tell her that at the count of ten, everything they called their home was going to be gone and they were going to be gone too. He'd woken her up to start her dream and then tell her it was about to end.


	6. Chapter 6

Title: **Enduring**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

In order to be a princess, you had to be diligent, kind, and caring. If you slipped once, made one mistake, they would remember that.

Maybe that was why Regina had finally cracked under the pressure. She hadn't been ready to control an entire kingdom, not with her broken heart and crushed spirit. She hadn't been ready for any of it.

And now she was facing the entire destruction of Storybrooke and she had an entirely different outlook on it all. Even if they hated her for what she'd done to them, she had to save them.


	7. Chapter 7

Title: **Everything We've Never Seen**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Ruby had never seen the town of Storybrooke like this. Vines snaking their way up across the dilapidated clock tower and running wild through the streets.

When she'd wanted to go home, she hadn't really thought about what might happen to Storybrooke. Even though there were so many bad memories she had experienced here, it was home. She had no idea why she was so attached to the place.

The Enchanted Forest was her home. She'd grown up there, it was where her family and friends had been.

Then again, home was where friends and family were.


	8. Chapter 8

Title: **For Some Reason**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Romance/Humor  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Belle smiled. It had been a while since she'd been in a library.

For some reason, Rumplestiltskin seemed to be getting into the habit of awarding her with libraries at random... Still...

For some reason, Belle was drawn towards him in a way she could not describe. She didn't know why, or how, but there was just something there, something deep within him that she knew was pure and good.

Sure, he could be cold and cruel at times, but even if he couldn't see it himself, she saw it in him.

For some reason, Belle knew.


	9. Chapter 9

Title: **Funny Guy**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Humor/Drama  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Prince Charming, David, really was a funny guy. Not really in the sense that he was sort of half-stalker, half-romantic, but mainly in the sense that he had a really, really, good reason to be.

Neal was gone, really gone. She wasn't seeing him again, and she'd hardly had the chance to say goodbye.

So maybe that was why David was so funny. Because he was always able to keep that smile on his face no matter what. Stand up strong in bleak situations.

He was a funny guy, but he was also a good man.


	10. Chapter 10

Title: **If Only We Were All Perfect**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

David didn't blame Snow for what she'd done. Heck, he'd killed people himself. It was true that that act had worried him, but he would only be concerned if she hadn't shown any remorse for the action.

That was what made the difference between her and Regina. Regina didn't care who she hurt, she only wanted what she wanted and she took that.

Snow cared about her people. So even if her killing Cora hadn't been the right choice to make, she had protected her family, friends, and not to mention her own town.


	11. Chapter 11

Title: **It's Funny**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

It's a funny thing, not knowing what's going to happen next. It's funny how people can just stare ahead into the distance and not even wonder or think about the future and just be okay with that.

It was a funny thing, how people didn't really get it, not her. Well, it wasn't really a funny thing, no one was laughing.

The thing was, she was coming on this boat to save her son. But not only her son. Now she knew that what she really wanted, what she really needed, was a- her family.


	12. Chapter 12

Title: **Leave Picture Books Behind For Good**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

This wasn't one of Belle's books, it wasn't a story and it wasn't a fable. There was no end of the chapter and there was no rest break. You couldn't predict what would happen next, you couldn't skip ahead to the end.

At the end of the day, no matter what you did, you couldn't erase what had happened. Storybrooke would be gone in a while.

So she braced, prepared herself for the total destruction of Storybrooke. She was ready to lose everything she'd ever known. Memories that she'd made here.


	13. Chapter 13

Title: **Life Isn't A Dream**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

When everyone was gone, when everything had been erased, what had she been planning to do? Why had she wanted to kill everyone?

It wasn't like she was writing a book. It wasn't as if she could erase the words, the names, and pretend they were never there to begin with. Even if they weren't clear, if you squinted, you could barely make out the faint silhouette, the ghost of an old word.

So why had she wanted to eradicate Storybrooke? How could she want to rip Henry away from the place he had grown up in?


	14. Chapter 14

Title: **Look In The Mirror**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

This really was the end of Storybrooke, Regina thought as she pulled on her boots. She didn't want to accept the truth just yet.

She was about to lose everything she'd ever really called home. She was willing to give it all up for Henry, before, though, and that was what she was going to do now.

Henry meant the world to her, and she was prepared to do anything to protect him. And if that meant losing her own life, so be it.

They were facing the total and complete destruction of Storybrooke, their one real home.


	15. Chapter 15

Title: **Make Your Mark**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

When it came to the end of the day, when you died, no one really remembered you. The only way you could really be remembered was if you made your mark in the history books and that was almost impossible to do.

Especially when you were considered 'not real'. After everyone died, when the town of Storybrooke finally fell, they weren't going to be remembered. They didn't even exist.

They would all just be considered words on pages, pages in a book. Nothing more than text and print. So, how on earth could you ever make your mark?


	16. Chapter 16

Title: **Mother Knows Best**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

The funny thing about it all was how Regina kept crawling back towards Cora no matter how awful she could be. Snow just couldn't wrap her mind around it.

Why would she want to hurt herself like that? Why was she willing to risk it all? She was positive Regina had more intellect than just that.

It was true that Cora was all the only real family she had left... Snow realized. Regina had been right, she didn't really know anything about mothers. Who was she to judge her?

She wanted to wipe that smirk off of Regina.


	17. Chapter 17

Title: **No One Remains**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Regina bit her lip. She couldn't contain the magic in the diamond much longer.

She really did wish, more than anything, that it would work. That she could just snap her fingers and save the town.

Only she couldn't.

It was so weird, knowing that only a minute she'd been prepared to do this to the town. She hadn't really thought of the consequences she would bode upon making such a choice.

In the end, she knew she couldn't have done such a thing to Henry, she would regret, but it didn't matter now.


	18. Chapter 18

Title: **Quirks**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Emma Swan had a lot of quirks.

Sometimes they were the fact that she always liked to sit on the inside of the couch, the car, or everything.

Sometimes they were how she hated sitting at the window of the airplane, how she loved and hated the scent of freshly-cut grass that made her both sneeze and smile.

Sometimes they were how she'd never really wanted to feel secure in a place, settle down and call it home. How she didn't want to adjust to a house or an apartment or anything.

Well, that was until now.


	19. Chapter 19

Title: **Shattered Pieces**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

If only everyone could be free. If only everyone could pick up the shattered remains of their home, of Storybrooke, if only they could move on without leaving their home.

But they couldn't. Once Storybrooke was gone, it was gone. Snow knew it would be selfish of her to leave for her own reasons.

Even though some wanted to leave, many more wanted to stay. It was understandable, it was a place they had called home for more than twenty-eight years.

It was going to be like a sleepover at first, fun, exciting, but then you missed home.


	20. Chapter 20

Title: **Speak Up**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Snow wanted to speak up as a child. Tell her mother she didn't want to be a queen or a princess, that she just wanted to be herself. That it was all so boring.

Snow wasn't the kind of girl who loved to wear dresses or go to large, elaborate parties. She had to smile even if she was sad and she had to be polite and perfect and clean.

But then Eva had passed.

She'd known that from then on, she had to do what her mother wanted- needed her to do.

Don't speak up.


	21. Chapter 21

Title: **Staring**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Red had never seen the town like this. People running around, berserk, a wildly terrified look in their eyes as they scrambled for their life.

Why this was happening, it was almost as though she didn't understand what was happening here. Even though she knew the truth very well, surely.

So she simply stood there, staring. Just staring at nothing in particular, watching her home be swallowed up by a giant green bushy monster.

It was the end of Storybrooke. She wasn't going to come back here again anyway, but you never missed things until they were gone.


	22. Chapter 22

Title: **This Is The End**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

If only things worked out the way they were supposed to. If only things really just... happened. Happened in a way that made everyone satisfied.

But, no. This was the end and the end meant no happy endings for anyone. The end wasn't really happy, it was just closure to the story, to the tale.

And yet, it didn't matter. Regina was about to lose her entire beautiful town... the one she had created. And despite the fact that it hadn't been created for good, it had been like a fresh start for her.

Storybrooke was home.


	23. Chapter 23

Title: **What Little Remains**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Regina got on that ship.

She knew that she had to save Henry and she knew she had to protect this family no matter what because it was all she had left. She knew that she had to make up for what she'd done in the past, she had to right her wrongs.

So she got on that ship.

She got on that ship because it was the right thing to do and she knew it. She got on that ship because she needed to. Not for herself, she didn't need, but for Henry.

For her 'new' family.


	24. Chapter 24

Title: **When Will My Life Begin?**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

Henry just wanted to be himself. He just wanted everyone to get along, he didn't care about good or evil or the final battle.

Henry just wanted his mom back. Regina... even if she was the Evil Queen, she just had to have loved him sometime in all those years. Maybe he'd just pushed her away too soon.

The only reason he'd pushed her away was because he didn't want to get hurt when he found out she'd never loved him. He knew it was a selfish thing to do, it was time for change.


	25. Chapter 25

Title: **With The Snap Of A Finger**  
Category: TV Shows » Once Upon a Time  
Author: Scarlet Phlame  
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K  
Genre: Drama/Angst  
Published: 05-29-13, Updated: 05-29-13  
Chapters: 1, Words: 100

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chapter 1**

* * *

With the snap of a finger, Regina could kill. She could set fire to villages and wreak havoc across the globe.

With the snap of a finger, Regina could ruin many lives and destroy so many things.

But the thing was, as much power as she had to destroy things, she had no magic to repair things.

She couldn't fix a broken heart or bring back the dead. She couldn't put a smile on anyone's face but herself. And that was why she was so lonely, so alone. She could only break hearts and hurt other people.


End file.
